After Tonight
by BreyerRose
Summary: Gail left WWE behind and is currently the Knockout's Champion. She gets a surprise visitor at the Impact Zone and realizes that After Tonight she'll finally get everything she wants.


~This is a follow up to Maybe Tonight and was requested by Baybeetymz. Sorry it took me sooo long. I hope it was worth the wait hun :)~

~After Tonight~

Gail sighed contentedly when she stepped out of the shower. She wrapped her long black hair up in a towel and then began to wipe the water off her caramel skin with a second. She patted her face dry and then glanced in the foggy mirror. Swiping a space clean she smiled when she caught sight of her reflection. The Florida sun was doing her good; her face lacked those worry lines that had lingered at the corner of her cat like eyes, her smile was brighter and more frequent down here, her whole body had finally lost the tension that had been coiled on her shoulders like a taut spring. She never wondered why it took her so long to come back; somewhere deep down in her heart she had always known that she would_ eventually_ make it back home. She just needed to wait for the moment to be right, she had to wait for him to really leave so she could see it all crack and deteriorate. Catching her gaze in the mirror again the corner of her honey eyes creased as her brows furrowed. She was unable to avoid the truth after he had left; she had always known what was hiding behind the curtain. It became too hard not to see as more and more useless models and dancers pranced their way into the ring. She always knew that she would follow him out of that company just like she and the others had followed him in. What Gail had not counted on was the fact that he would listen to her for once and actually go back. She shook her head and unwrapped her hair from the towel. She raked the heavy tresses back out of her face and headed out to the main part of the locker room.

Gail gingerly slipped into the capris and t-shirt that she had laid out on top of the bench. It was early, the show still had another hour to go, but she had televised matches here every week, and they were long enough to actually do something in. The other females in the Knockout division could really work. The match tonight against Tara had left Gail stiff and bruised; and she loved it. She took pride in the twinge of pain in her shoulder as she raised the brush to her hair. She also took pride in the fact of knowing that he was somewhere watching her compete at this caliber again. Gail had received a text message from him the night she had made her shocking reappearance back in October. Just one simple word: _finally_. But she knew every time she stepped out of the tunnel that he was watching her somehow. She could feel it on her skin, feel in her gut.

She had just finished clipping her hair up when a knock sounded on her door. Her brows scrunched; she hoped to get out of the Impact Zone early tonight and just fall into bed. She really liked having a home base in Orlando, she felt so relieved that she could go home after a hard night and not have to worry about checking into some random hotel. She didn't miss living out of a suitcase. Another knock reverberated on the door and with a hefty sigh she answered it.

"Oh… um, hey AJ What's up?"

The Phenomenal One smirked at her. "Nothin' was just coming around to see what your plans are for the rest of the night. You're not taking off are ya?"

"I was gonna actually yeah. I'm probably gonna leave soon."

"You're not gonna stay for the rest of the show?"

"I'm all done. And Tara killed me tonight. I'm sore."

"Yeah, that was a rough landing out there darlin'. Your shoulder okay?" He drawled.

"It's fine, just sore. I'm looking forward to my PJs and bed."

"Well would you mind staying a little longer for me? I'd really like to talk to you later."

Gail scrunched in her forehead in confusion. "About what? And we can talk now if you want."

"Um… I'm actually busy now. I just wanted to catch you before you left."

"Really? Look AJ, I'm tired. If you want to have coffee in the morning I'd be down for that, but I'm going home in a few. Sorry."

"C'mon Kimmy, just stay and hang out for a little while. Come chill with me and Chris down in catering a little later. It's been a while since we all just hung out at a show." AJ stared at her with those ridiculously blue eyes and she could feel her resolve steadily crumble.

"Fine, but I'm not getting dragged out anywhere after the show. And I don't want any drunken phone calls at 4 this morning."

AJ chuckled. "Like we would ever drunk dial you."

"I saved the voicemails from the last time when Matt was down here." She laughed, "I can't believe you got the whole bar to sing 'There's a tear in my Beer'."

"We were devastated that you couldn't come out with us."

"Yeah, you guys sounded it."

"Well we were trying to make the best of the evening." AJ winked at her. "Hey, have you talked to him at all? How's his foot?"

"He's doing okay." Gail nodded. "Even though he's injured I think he's enjoying his time off," she added with a warm smile.

"Good. He needs it. He was so burnt out these last few months."

"Yeah, it's a tight schedule and ship over there. It's easy to lose sight of everything, especially if you're stuck on the mid-card."

"Or in a shitty women's division," AJ added for her. "So come down to catering in about a half hour and we'll be there."

Gail sighed despite her agreement. "Aright. I'll probably end up going down earlier than that. Is Chris busy now?"

"Yeah, we've got a segment to do in the ring in a few minutes."

"Oh. Hmm… Well I'm sure someone will be down there."

"Yeah, someone." AJ nodded quickly. "So we'll be down there in little bit."

"Okay." Gail studied him for a moment. "What's going on?" She demanded putting her hand on her hip.

"Nothin'." He retorted immediately. "I gotta go Kimmy. We'll see ya in a few okay."

"AJ…" She called after him but the Phenomenal One just waved her off and hurried down to the ring entrances. "This is a trap," she muttered.

Gail packed up the rest of the things in her locker. She applied a bit of blush to her high cheek bones and brushed some gloss over her lips before heading down to the catering area to wait for AJ and Christopher Daniels.

"Hey girl, I thought you were heading home."

Gail looked over and found Velvet Sky and the Guns sitting at one of the tables in the corner of the catering area. She smiled and went over to join them. "I was planning on it but I got guilted into staying to hang out with AJ and Daniels. How are you guys doing anyway? Good to see ya back in the ring."

"Ditto," Alex smirked at her. "'Bout time you had some decent matches."

Gail snickered and sat down next to him. "Yeah, it is."

The Knockouts Champion was glad for Velvet and the Guns' company. She chatted happily and even reminisced about the good old days in the TNA Asylum with Alex and Chris. Suddenly Gail's phone buzzed with a text message.

_Sorry Kimmy gotta cancel, something came up. But we found a replacement for ya ~ AJ._

"Oh my God! Really?" Gail huffed. "I can't believe those 2."

"What happened?" Chris asked.

"I waited for those assholes and now they're bailing on me. What the hell? And what replacement?" She flipped her phone to make the keyboard bigger and tapped 'reply' to AJ's message. But before she could begin typing it the phone vibrated in her hand. She closed her current message and hit view for the new one. Her jaw dropped and her heart jolted at the same time when she read the name that had popped up on her screen.

_Heard you free tonight_

She quickly tapped the 'reply' button and began to type. _Where are you?_

Gail stared hard at her phone willing the moments to hurry. Finally her phone buzzed. It was a picture message. She instantly opened it.

A photo of her Knockout's title belt next to his WWE title belt appeared. Her white belt was resting on the bench above his black one in her locker room! She stood up as she looked at his message.

_Nice belt Cat_

"Gail?" Velvet called after her. But the knockout champion didn't hear her. "That was weird."

"She has company," Alex clarified.

"You guys were in on this," the Beautiful knockout proclaimed.

Chris shrugged and slipped his arm around her shoulders. "We just knew about it, AJ told us he'd be coming in tonight."

Velvet grinned for her friend and settled back against Chris.

~xxx~

Gail rushed back down to her locker room and flung the door open; she had to brace her hand against the frame when she finally saw Punk standing there near the bench.

"Hey Cat," he smirked at her.

She wanted to say so many things all at once that all the words jammed in her throat and she lacked a voice at first. She swallowed thickly and forced herself to speak.

"What in the hell are you doing here?"

"I decided it was time I come for a visit… Surprise." He held his arms out and put a big cheesy grin on his face.

Gail stepped into the room and pulled the door closed behind her before she looked at him again. "You're probably here to scout the enemy. I know how Vince works remember; he's underhanded enough to send you in as a decoy."

Punk's grin fell immediately. "You really think I'd agree to do that?"

"I don't know what you'd do anymore. You told me you were done last year, and now you've got the strap. What happened to giving Vince a taste of his own medicine?"

"What happened to you telling me I was stupid for letting them take it all away from me?" He furrowed his brows.

"The way you went about it was stupid Punk, you had all the leverage in the world, and you just gave that back to them."

"I didn't give anything back," he motioned to his title belt lying on the bench beside hers. "I took back what I wanted and I'm doing it my way now. Creative comes to me and asks me about story lines now; they just don't throw them at me. And Dragon and I are actually in a pretty good feud now."

Gail bit her lip and looked down at the mention of Bryan. Punk studied her for a moment; he saw the way her shoulders slumped forward and the brief flash of pain in her honey eyes.

"So it is true then," Punk whispered. "Why the fuck didn't tell me?"

"You weren't there. You had already left. How was I supposed to know you were going to come back?"

"Pick up the damn phone Gail! Don't you think I had a right to know that you left him? I had to hear it from Dragon. And by the way: he really fucking loved you. He's still hurt."

"Yeah, he looked like it when he was running around with that stupid little twit April, or Aj. Whatever the hell her name is," she growled.

Punk squinted as if he was peering through a fog at her. "Are you jealous?"

Gail scoffed and rolled her eyes. She attempted to card a hand through her hair, but forgot she had it clipped. She ripped the clip out and let her hair fall free. "I am not jealous. Why would I be?"

Punk glanced down at her Knockout's title and raised a brow. "I don't know really, but I know you Cat; you're acting weird. You're pissed about something. What's going on?"

Gail scowled at him. She really did regret not going directly home now. She felt betrayed and set up, and it wasn't because of AJ and Daniels. "Why did you come here tonight?"

Punk sighed and moved like he wanted to step closer to her, but he seemed to think better of it.

"I just really wanted to see you. It's been a year Cat and I missed you."

"I know how long it's been." She snapped. "And the phone works both ways; you could have called me too."

"How could I when I thought you were still with Dragon?" Punk growled. He stepped toward her this time and clenched his fists at his sides. "You have no idea how much it killed me to leave that morning. I wanted you to come w-" He stopped himself and tugged his lip ring into his mouth.

"What did you want? 'Cause I thought I knew, but then you went back. How could you do that? After the way they treated Matt and after I left… I couldn't believe you went crawling back to them. Did you mean anything that night?"

"I meant everything." He paused to catch her gaze, "_Everything_. And I was done with all the bullshit. But then I started to think about what you had said. You were right Cat. I was giving them everything I had worked for. And I wasn't okay with that. I sat around for a while and realized I wasn't done yet. Colt really helped me put things in perspective. I wasn't just leaving behind all of Vince's bullshit; I was leaving behind my whole life. But by the time I realized that you had left."

"It was just so easy for you to leave it all behind, to leave m-" Gail clamped her teeth over her bottom lip. She needed a deep breath before she continued, "I am glad you were able to prove your point. But it just seemed like everything you were willing to sacrifice wasn't worth anything when you went back."

"I only went back because I regretted the sacrifices I made that night. I re-signed so that I could get them back." Punk reached out and tucked a strand of jet black hair behind her ear. "But I was too late."

"I had to get out of there." Gail whispered. "I thought I could handle it, but it just really seemed hopeless after you left Philly. There was no reason for me to stay at that point. The Divas division is nothing but a joke, I was wasting my time."

"Even with Dragon?" Punk asked.

Gail shut her eyes and shrunk back a bit. "I think he always knew I was a waste of time."

"But he never stopped trying, he really did love you. But he always knew Cat."

"Everyone knew… Except for us."

"Well I know now. I've learned what is most important to me."

Gail looked up at him through ebony lashes. Her eyes were swimming with unshed tears. Punk couldn't remember the last time he had seen her look so young and unsure.

"What is most important to you now?" Her voice wavered.

"You are Cat." Punk caressed her cheek and laid his forehead against hers. "I can walk away from everything if I need to; but I can't keep leaving you. I'm tired of waiting for the right time to come. It's time we took everything we wanted."

He felt her sigh and finally lean into him. "Then take it."

Punk tangled his tattooed fingers into her thick hair and captured her lips with his own. He felt her hands run up over his black t-shirt and find the nape of his neck as Gail pulled him deeper into the kiss. Everything else seemed to melt away. All the time they had lost while trying to establish themselves in the industry that had nearly pulled them apart slipped away and didn't matter anymore. The others they had used to try to fill that void were forgotten as they finally got to reacquaint themselves with each other. Punk's hand caressed her cheek again as he slowly pulled back, neither eager to relinquish the kiss. Gail's tiger eyes smiled up at him, her tears chased away by the warm glow that had taken over her entire body. Punk couldn't help the grin that broke over his face, and he leaned in to brush his lips over hers again.

"Are we really going to do it this time?" Gail whispered gently cradling his face in her hands.

Punk nodded. "Yeah, it's for real this time. I'm not leaving you again. Anywhere we go from now on we're going together."

"Then let's go home," Gail placed another chaste kiss over his pierced lips.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Punk smiled at her.

Gail stepped back and ran her hand through her hair. She reached down and placed her bag on the bench. She grabbed her Knockout's title and laid it on top of the clothes in her bag.

"Did you really wear that in here?" She tipped her chin at his title.

"Hell yeah I did. This may surprise you; but I am rather proud of being the champion." He smirked.

"I know you are. Besides that belt has never looked better," she winked at him.

"You're telling me. You should wear yours out Cat. Think of the uproar; a TNA champion and a WWE champion leaving the Impact Zone together, Vince will finally have the big one after he sees the pictures."

She laughed at him and took her belt out of the bag. She went to put it around her waist but Punk took hold of the belt and turned her around. He pressed the title over her stomach and smoothed his hands slowly over the straps around her hips. He snapped the belt in place and put his hands over her shoulders. He began to gently squeeze the sore muscles. She sighed and leaned her head back against his chest.

"When we get home we'll work on that shoulder first. You took a hell of a bump out there." His breath warmed her ear.

"Sounds nice," she purred and nuzzled against him.

Punk kneaded her shoulders for a few more seconds before turning her around to face him. He stared at her for a moment and allowed himself a soft wispy smile. Gail indulged in the quiet moment as well before she moved to grab his belt and fasten it on him.

"Well Philly, we finally got our dream. Remember when we said that we would both be champions and together when we were kids."

"Man, I think we even one upped ourselves," Punk snickered. "I'm the dominant star in WWE and you are the dominant star in TNA. We got this whole damn business on lock. Not bad if I do say so myself."

Gail laughed and slipped her hand into his. "Not bad at all," she agreed as they headed out to the parking lot. "Now let's go home."


End file.
